Well guys, I'm done with Sony. Earlier today, it was announced that they essentially forced the popular video game importing site, Lik-Sang, out of business with a series of lawsuits (http://www.lik-sang.com/news.php?artc=3901).

Between this, their clear contempt for their customer base in promoting the PS3, and the shady practices in the whole rootkit (http://www.sysinternals.com/blog/2005/10/sony-rootkits-and-digital-rights.html) fiasco, I've made the decision to sell my PSP. If I still owned a PS2, it would go too, and you'd better believe that I'm not buying a PS3. A company that's as misguided and underhanded as this does not deserve my money.

don't forget all those exploding laptop batteries out there.

Greedy Bastards. Can't say I'm not gonna buy a PS3, but this certainly opens my eyes a little. Thanks for the links about the rootkit, I hadn't heard about that yet.

i didnt kno wthis was going on but from a quick google read of stories it seems clear to me that Sony was in the right to go after that company. they have contracts /agreements with their resellers. that company violated them. i dont really know what your saying about the contempt in marketing the ps3 id like to hear more about that. ive barely seen any ps3 marketing.

as far as the rootkit episode. sure there was an issue with the ap- it was poorly done i get it. but DRM is here to stay in one form or other and the companies are going to go to extra lengths to keep people from finding and trying todelete or disable it. they have to.

except for the fact that european sony execs themselves were buying psp's from lik-sang upon the japan release.

it seems as if sony is doing everything in their power to completely screw themselves.

well they should fire those guys:)

Well, as far as Sony's contempt for the consumer, the whole time they've been marketing the PS3 (mostly at trade shows), they've been incredibly condescending toward their very own customer base. I wish I could find a good, solid list of quotes, but I do remember Kutaragi saying something to the effect of "Well, our system is so good, I don't care if you think it's too much. Stop being cheap and buy it anyway." Obviously, he worded it differently, but that's kind of been their attitude lately - frankly, I think they can stuff it.

Anyway, speaking of dumping Sony, I just got back from selling off my PSP and games. Ended up with a totally awesome Onyx (black) DS lite and a copy of Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time. I feel pretty good about it - I've always wanted a DS, plus now I won't be tempted to give Sony money anymore. :ylsuper:

http://img.ircimages.com/ircimages/b/3/b3067414c1ad295d3607e1197630caac.jpg

http://img.ircimages.com/ircimages/9/5/95e739430463b2677577c4decab1c283.jpg

http://img.ircimages.com/ircimages/4/3/4375f6bf6e363dc6c4185b6eaf763a69.jpg

Can I have your PSP?

I'll sell you mine for 400 dollars + shipping.

Can I have your PSP?
Talk to the Rhino Games here in Orlando. :p:

oh rhawb, welcome to the awesome DS club. so many good games, so little time.

Be sure to try, in no particular order

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan! (import)
Bleach (import)
New Super Mario Bros
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
Trauma Center: Under the Knife
Metroid Prime Hunters

so in response to "dont you think the price is a bit high?" he responded " we feel we have priced it correctly and that because of the build, content and features the customers will buy it at that price" . pride in your product is now considered contempt for the consumer?

sorry i see some of the outrage against sony in various places and i just dont get it. im not defending them because i dont even understand the charges. they're acompany- a big one. the make pretty decent product from what i can tell. i wish the PS3 looked more like my VCR or disc changer , receiver etc so it would just blend in with the stack. in fact i wish they had just built a 5 disc dvd/cd player into the PS3 so i could dump 2 pieces of equiptment from my stereo/av stack. but i dont think they are evil because they didnt.

Well, like I said, I don't have a whole lot of quotes at hand to really help myself out - maybe Chris can think of some more. Either way, it's not so much their confidence that I take issue with, it's the condescending tones they use. They're more or less telling you "Yeah, well the PS3 is for people that can afford it. You other peons can have those lesser systems." They don't come across as telling you that you should desire to own one, rather, they seem to take a stance that if you can't afford it, tough. Their system is reserved for the elite.

Sony Quotes:

PS3 is “for consumers to think to themselves ‘I will work more hours to buy one’. We want people to feel that they want it, irrespective of anything else.”

“The PS3 will instill discipline in our children and adults alike. Everyone will know discipline.”

"…the PS3 can't be offered at a price that's targeted towards households."

Thanks Chris! :D:

Sony is one of a kind. Their failed ventures include Beta Max, Mini Disc, memory sticks, rootkits, Sony Connect, and more. If the PS3 isn't a big success (which it probably will be) I worry about their future.

Riiiiiidge Racer!!!!

Sony Quotes:

PS3 is “for consumers to think to themselves ‘I will work more hours to buy one’. We want people to feel that they want it, irrespective of anything else.”

“The PS3 will instill discipline in our children and adults alike. Everyone will know discipline.”

"…the PS3 can't be offered at a price that's targeted towards households."

these are some strange quotes. i might assume they are taken out of context, but they go right along with what you guys are saying. That last quote makes NO SENSE to me in reference to a console system taht is designed to be played at home.

actually I just read that some of their debt was downgraded to BBB+, which is 3 levels above junk status.

Reasons for the downgrade include:

* Sony's "game segment will likely incur large losses over the next three to five years"
* "Sony can no longer price its products at a material premium to its competition"
* Delay of the PS3 in Europe
* The big Sony battery recall
* The "PS3 is likely to face more severe competition than [the PS2 did]"
* "Sony has also been showing weaker financial results and credit metrics compared to its rivals in recent years"


I completely agree with all of these points, especially in regards to pricing it's products at a premium to the competition. Sony's products haven't been worth their price premium for a while now and I can't believe people still pay for their stuff.

Riiiiiidge Racer!!!! attack it's weak point for massive damage!

oh, and then there's the obligatory YTMND (http://riiiddggeeraacceerr.ytmnd.com/)

I worked for a short time at EB Games and I can only think of a handful of people who were interested in buying a PS3. Nearly everyone I talked to said it was too expensive and that there wasn't enough there to justify the price differential between it and the other systems. Sony's really screwed the pooch this time around. I'd be willing to bet that they're not going to come out on top this time around. It will sell well initially, but mostly due to an "extreme lack of goods (http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=212)."

http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:3awbhlEhehAJ:www.kotaku.com/gaming/media-criticism/ken-kutaragi-misunderstood-or-just-nuts-111634.php+The+PS3+will+instill+discipline+in+our+ children+and+adults+alike.+Everyone+will+know+disc ipline.&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=3


discipline is a fake

ha, ok 1 quote. But still, read that shacknews article (http://www.shacknews.com/extras/kutaragi/070705_kutaragi_01.x).

Here are some more:
the PS3 "is not a game machine. We've never once called it a game machine."

"is more of an Xbox 1.5 than a next generation console."

"Microsoft is trailing behind us, but they are not a threat. They are good at improving [on products], but we will be advancing to the next level with revolutionary technology. Beating us for a short moment is like accidentally winning a point from a Shihan (Karate master), and Microsoft is still not a black belt. Just like with their operating systems, they might come out with something good around the third generation of their release."

Whoa, I can't believe the news. I ordered from LikSang all the time dammit. What's gonna happen to my LikSang points which I was saving for an arcade machine. DAMN YOU SONY!

ha, ok 1 quote.

you just lost a lot of credibility LOL

you just lost a lot of credibility LOL well I just searched on google. Who the hell spoofs Ken Kutaragi quotes and then posts them on a major website? Sheesh.

i still like sony. i guess i'm one of those "special" people when i get my PS3.

I don't buy Sony.

I used to think they were the cats meow when I was younger, then after spending 6 months saving up for a $90 cassette walkman. Only to have it sound like someone was stepping on the balls of the singers on my tapes with fresh batteries and then sounding as if Lurch and the Adams' had their own band when they would run down. It broke after only a couple months.

I've had every one of their products go south almost immediately on me. :(

I then worked for them and found out they treat their employees almost as bad as they treat their customers.

They only care about $$$. It shows in their overpriced products of mediocre quality, and in their customer service.

I don't hate Sony. I just don't think anything they make is worth the money.

Everything they make is priced MUCH higher than comparible technology, basically I think that Sony is going to price themselves right out of the market with the Proprietery formats.

The PS3 is a wonderful machine ran by idiots. Ill probably get one mid-way 2007 when things settle down with Sony and shitte.

OOOOOOOUUUUUUUUEEEEEEEEEENNNNNNNNNNDDAAAAAAAAAAAAA ANNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ds/aosj/wallpaper_img/05_800.jpg

I wont be getting a PS3 for some years. Price is too high for me to justify and the technology won't be accessible for a few years anyway. I also like to buy in the used game market, unless I NEED the game now, and Sony looks to eliminate that completely.

I think the biggest mistake Sony is making is only shipping 400,000 units. Once again creating a PS2 like fiasco where people are willing to pay all kinds of money for them.

OOOOOOOUUUUUUUUEEEEEEEEEENNNNNNNNNNDDAAAAAAAAAAAAA ANNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ds/aosj/wallpaper_img/05_800.jpg

Hey, one of the games I ordered from liksang. I heard it might come over our shores. One of the best rhymth games out, too bad you can't order it from liksang anymore. What irony.

I think the biggest mistake Sony is making is only shipping 400,000 units. Once again creating a PS2 like fiasco where people are willing to pay all kinds of money for them.
I have a feeling that the initial batch will sell like wildfire, giving Sony a HUGE morale boost early on. Then, reality will set in - people will begin having tons of problems with the systems (remember - the limited production is largely due to a problem with the BluRay drives) and everyone else will just say "screw it, it's too expensive."

I think Sony's in for quite the wakeup call pretty soon here.

I have a feeling that the initial batch will sell like wildfire, giving Sony a HUGE morale boost early on. Then, reality will set in - people will begin having tons of problems with the systems (remember - the limited production is largely due to a problem with the BluRay drives) and everyone else will just say "screw it, it's too expensive."

I think Sony's in for quite the wakeup call pretty soon here.

Yeah it's weird. Sony either makes the best hardware or the crappiest hardware. I have a sony walkman that I bought back in 94 and I am still using it to this day. At the same time I have gone through 3 playstations(warrenty) and 2 playstation 2's. The price is definitly insane. My gamestop is only getting 16 units and 14 of those have already been reserved.

They are releasing a game that uses the same engine as Ouendan called "Elite Beat Agents". It is however a completely new game with new songs and stories.

Not to mention trying to shove their standards like Blue Ray & Memory Sticks down our throats.

Update: I currently do not miss my PSP, nor do I believe that I ever will. In fact, I'm loving the hell out of my DS w/ Mario and Luigi and the future seems bright for this thing.

Carry on.

If you ever get lost in the woods, the brightest setting on the DS Lite can be used to signal aircraft.

whether sony is right or wrong in the lik-sang case, you all have to agree that lik-sang provided a service that was highly appreciated by their customers and the absence of that company will be a hinderance to importers.
it sucks because in essence, they're still giving sony the money for legal products. they just happen to be exporting them to somewhere that they're not supposed to.

I guess I'll just have to go to Play-asia now. XD

well... if sony is evil, then what's the alternative- xb360? microsoft? it's hardly philanthropy when you screw over the world with monopolistic, predatory business practices to amass otherwise unattainable wealth, and then decide to give some of it back...

Wii.

Wii.
+1

I have a 360, but I'm not really a huge fan of Microsoft.

+1

I have a 360, but I'm not really a huge fan of Microsoft. +100. I've already got Wii preordered, along with Zelda, Trauma Center, and Red Steel. Plus an extra remote, nun chuck, and classic controller. oooooo yeah baby.

That said, I'll most likely be picking up a 360 after the holidays. Gears of War is calling....

Yeah, I want GoW, but lately there's been a huge drought of games for the 360. I'll probably have to pick up the Wii after xmas, seeing as I need a bit of an income boost to afford it, so I'm kind of banking on just getting cash instead of presents. :p:

I want to play Super Snake Bros. and whatever Ouendan game comes out for it. XD

well... if sony is evil, then what's the alternative- xb360? microsoft? it's hardly philanthropy when you screw over the world with monopolistic, predatory business practices to amass otherwise unattainable wealth, and then decide to give some of it back...

I have to ask an honest question to which I really do not know the answer! Has Sony ever given anything in an attempt at making the world better after obtaining wealth?

btw the other alternative is more than likely Nintendo's Wii!

hey lufty have you tried maplestory (http://www.mapleglobal.com) yet?

If you do, I'm on the Bera server channel 2. I'm not sure the channels matter though.

Haven't tried it yet. My friends had me start playing WoW. I'm pretty bored of it already...

im glad I quit wow. That game stole my soul for over a year.

i didnt kno wthis was going on but from a quick google read of stories it seems clear to me that Sony was in the right to go after that company. they have contracts /agreements with their resellers. that company violated them. i dont really know what your saying about the contempt in marketing the ps3 id like to hear more about that. ive barely seen any ps3 marketing.

as far as the rootkit episode. sure there was an issue with the ap- it was poorly done i get it. but DRM is here to stay in one form or other and the companies are going to go to extra lengths to keep people from finding and trying todelete or disable it. they have to.

I disagree completely on the DRM front. They may keep trying, but it'll never truly succeed. As long as people are people, nothing is fool proof. There are already ways around it now if you protected music.

The recording industry is just dumb (in addition to greedy). They need to adopt a new paradigm... a new business model that reflects the world today and where it's going rather than try to force it into their old model.

They'd have less to worry about with piracy if the digital music sold online was cheaper. They aren't printing already overpriced CD's for it and the prices should better reflect it. If it was cheap enough... why bother deal with file sharing, potentially bad copies and viruses? A few people might just because free is free, but many probably wouldn't even be bothered anymore.

hey lufty have you tried maplestory (http://www.mapleglobal.com) yet?

If you do, I'm on the Bera server channel 2. I'm not sure the channels matter though.

maplestory! i dont play but find it interesting, maybe i should start...

I'm not into games but did purchased a Sony laptop KPGV-K33 2 years ago. The fan is so loud sounds like a rotary engine. People complain if I have it in a meeting. Also the battery last about 25 min. Haven't checked if it the one that blows up since I don't use the battery too often.

One good feature is the large X-brite screen. You can look at it from any angle. Don't think I would purchase another one. Never did get my rebate either. Mailed it in three times and even wrote a letter to Sony. Nada.